Brocolli, starting to flower

g'day dirtbag,

none of this may help of course as i am in a sub-tropical region.

when any brassica bolts for us it usually means the days are too hot that is why we grow ours broccolli included through the winter months ove here our winters might be close to your autumn or spring. plus growing n winte over here means no pests.

never heard of any seedling being more susseptable to bolting than another. you could try cutting off that head maybe still edible? and seewaht occurs with the new growths my thinking if it is season issue that they will still bolt.

might be you have to pick the heads for eating when smaller.

On Sun, 23 May 2010 13:43:07 +0000 (UTC), DirtBag wrote: snipped

Cut the heads while they are still tight and dark coloured, before the flowers start to open. More will grow from lower down.

David

. . . and mulch like crazy to keep the ground cool.

Billy said

...makes me think planting brocolli in raised beds might not be a good idea? I thought early soil warming was one of the "benefits" of raised beds. Any thoughts?

It's a cool weather plant (spring & fall). Maybe try starting it in March next year. Where are you?

Raised beds may be important for other reasons. Better to grow it in cool seasons, it doesn't bolt so quickly and you get a rest from cabbage moth etc. When your cool seasons are depends on your climate.

David

Billy said

Indiana.

I tried starting brocolli seedlings, 20MAR, on my own. I didn't use any grow light so they were - well, wimpy. They are now long since transplanted to the garden but I think they are too late.

My more successful brocolli plants were two store-bought plants. These already had some spears when purchased. These are the ones producing now.

I also bought some smaller ones 23MAY, they are progressing fine but I fear also too late. Again, I'm new at this brocolli stuff ...

I'm really looking forward to late summer, I'm ready for another swing.

Not that the spears I'm getting now aren't great! They are just spears only a gardener could love. ;-)

I'm just loving this gardening thing. All the help from this group is greatly appreciated!

Where I live, broccoli, cabbage and brussel sprouts get too much summer heat to grow well. Maybe the same for my radishes which seems like they want to grow large leaves, send out flowers, and grow little roots. We are having adequate rainfall, not too much/too little. The garden soil was ammended with compost this spring, so maybe not nutrient related.